Ferry union plans to appeal Ready ruling

The union representing workers at British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. plans to appeal a ruling released this morning that would allow the company to pull many senior managers out of the union.

“The Union has advised [lawyer] Sandra Banister to launch an appeal to the Labour Relations Board and apply for a stay with the LRB,” B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers' Union president Richard Goode wrote in an message to union executives.

The 91-page ruling by Vince Ready found most masters, senior chief engineers, chief engineers, senior chief stewards and chief stewards should be excluded from the union. He gave the company two months to come up with a plan for implementing the ruling.

It is unclear how many employees are affected, though the Province's Christina Montgomery notes the company originally applied to have 515 workers excluded, about 10 percent of the union's membership.

Ready's award notes that questions of who is included in the union has been an issue for the publicly owned ferry company for 30 years.

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.